


On a Coren Academy Rooftop

by Magistra



Series: Tales of the Fang of Reclaimed Blood (Exalted) [1]
Category: Exalted (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Bisexuality, Blessed Isle, Boarding School, Coren Academy, F/M, First Kiss, M/M, Sexual Tension, Teasing, Teenagers, Terrestrial Exalted, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 09:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19270558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magistra/pseuds/Magistra
Summary: Two young Dragon-blooded on the cusp of leaving for the House of Bells discuss their first romantic experiences and share one themselves.Retelling of a scene from a longer campaign. Slightly suggestive Fluff.





	On a Coren Academy Rooftop

The night was still. The massive grounds of Coren Academy slumbered, nestled deep in the heart of Ragara lands. The guards on the perimeter walls watched outward, uncaring of what the school’s young, brilliant pupils might be doing. None of them saw a figure leap from a window of one stone dormitory straight up to the roof of the building, and none could have spotted a second climb through the shadows from the same window upwards. On that roof, two dragon-blooded teenagers lay down to look up at the stars.

“I can't believe it's almost over,” murmured Cathak Job. “Sometimes it feels like we just arrived.” He stretched a hand up towards the sky, gesturing as if he were trying to grab the moon out of the sky. His face almost glowed in the moonlight, not due to his aura but due to his unnatural paleness.

“I can,” said Siletti. The tall, dark boy was harder to see, but as he smiled, his eyes and teeth reflected the moon's brightness. “You were even shorter back then, remember?”

“We were almost the same height,” Job protested.

Siletti laughed, “Yeah, but you stayed short.”

Job's hand dropped and he turned over onto his side to jab his friend in the side. Grinning, Siletti rolled out of arm's reach, only to use his own superior reach to jab Job. Job curled up, gasping with laughter. “No fair,” he whined. “You have long arms.”

Siletti jabbed a few more times, laughing. “Yeah, Job, I’m the superior one. I even kissed Roceta first.” He withdrew slowly, drawling “And it was amaaaazing.”

It had been, too. He remembered his final round of the yearly Games, when he and his fire-aspect betrothed had been set against each other as there was no one else at Coren Academy likely to challenge the two of them. They had exchanged blows over and over for hours, their auras flaring, burning and flooding until a heavy fog had settled over the field and stands. At the end, battered and bruised, almost devoid of powers, the two of them had grappled until Roceta suddenly broke away. In a smooth motion, she sliced the cords tying up her hair. Her long, flaming locks cascaded over her shoulders down to her knees. Suddenly, the fog around Siletti felt warm; as he looked at her, he realised that her gi had been sliced almost to pieces. His betrothed was beautiful, but he had never seen her like that before. Her steps towards him were sensual and swaying, unlike her usual martial strides. He felt transfixed; where had this Roceta been for the past six years? Had she been this irresistible this whole time? As she approached him, he had sunk to one knee.

She had leaned down over him, her eyes smouldering with the elemental flame within her as the glowing firebirds of her anima circled the two of them, turning into mist and ashy droplets where they met the water serpent of his own. She caressed his face for a moment, her perfect lips curving into a smile, and her burning fingers left trails of ash upon his skin. “You can stop now, Siletti” she whispered. “I win.” Her lips touched his and for one moment, he felt like he was floating in a warm, sweet ocean. Then, his body went limp and he had slid to the floor, unconscious.

“Best ten seconds of my life,” he said, a huge grin spreading across his face.

Job didn’t seem impressed. “Hm. You know,” he said. “Roceta offered to kiss me too right after you passed out.” He sat up, drawing his knees to his chest, his arms wrapped around them as if he were hugging himself. “I wouldn't want her to be my first kiss.”

Siletti sat up more slowly, running a hand through his dark, messy locks. “Why not?” he asked, genuinely puzzled. “I don’t understand. Come on, anyone would want a kiss from her.”

Job rested his head on his knees, turning his face towards Siletti. “Don't get me wrong, I do want to kiss her. I'm just saying, I wouldn't choose her to be my first. She was already your first, and I don't want to feel like I came second in a competition that never happened.”

Siletti considered arguing, saying that it wouldn't be like that, that he could tell that Roceta wanted to kiss Job too and that it didn't matter who she had kissed first. But then, the pride inside him welled up; he had been the first of the two to get kissed after all. Job would be second here no matter what. He decided to take a neutral approach. “Well, who do you want to kiss, then?” he asked.

Job's pale face flushed slightly. “Tepet Isadora,” he said. “She's really something.”

Siletti nodded in agreement. “Yes, she really is,” he said, grinning and gesturing roundly in front of his chest.

Job's flush deepened into a true blush. “I like her for more than that!” he spluttered. A clear lie.

Siletti rolled his eyes. “You met her once, Job. And the entrance exams for the House of Bells aren’t exactly a time to get to know someone. What do you like about her?”

“She has a nice bow and a giant bird,” Job replied, shifting his weight uncomfortably. “Roceta says she does a lot of cool things.”

“Roceta says she's kind of clingy and jealous,” retorted Siletti. “If you kiss her first, maybe you won't get to kiss anyone else until you get married to her.”

Job's face was still red, but his brow furrowed as he frowned at his friend. “Marry her? I don’t think my house would marry me to a Tepet. I know you’re a patrician, but come on, you know our houses hate each other.” He sighed. “Well, there goes my first choice. Who am I supposed to kiss, then?”

“I don't know,” said Siletti, the words tumbling out of his mouth cloaked in a fake air of nonchalance. “Me.”

“You?” said Job.

Sirens of embarrassment and regret went off in Siletti’s head. Why had he said that? Most of him had thought it would be funny to say, but part of him had genuinely considered kissing Job a few times in the past… And all of him felt desperate to kiss more, with little regard as to whom he kissed. But he'd said it now, and there was no turning back from something like that. “Yeah,” he said, defensive. “I'm not Roceta, I'm not clingy, and I have experience. We're already best friends anyway. Why not?” He prepared himself to be laughed at.

To his surprise, Job didn't laugh. Instead, he stared at Siletti for a moment, as if weighing up the pros and cons. Just as Siletti opened his mouth to say, “Just kidding,” Job quickly replied, “Alright then,” and leaned in.

To Siletti, time seemed to slow down. His lips were already parted, and he tried to keep them soft as Job drew close. He could sense the uncertainty in his friend's movements and put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. At the same time, Job used a move out of Roceta’s pillow book they had pored over together several times, cupping Siletti's face in his hands. Their lips touched and a brief eternity of stillness flew by. Then, Job's eyes closed and his tongue gently yet insistently pressed between Siletti's lips.

It was like fireworks went off in Siletti's brain. He let Job deepen the kiss, physically pulling the shorter boy into his lap. Job responded eagerly, pressing his body against his friend's as they kissed. They kissed for several minutes, hands roving into hair and everywhere else above the waist. It was unexpected and unplanned. It felt glorious, terrifying, incredible.

Finally, they pulled away from each other, panting. Siletti regained his voice first to gasp, “Gotcha.”

“What do you mean?” asked Job. Even his ears were red now.

“Well…” started Siletti, the corners of his lips twisting upwards into a cheeky, slightly lopsided smile. “I kissed someone before you did anyway. But also, Roceta beat you in the secret ‘Kiss Siletti’ competition. So, ha, you're still only second place!”

He expected Job to get a little mad or sad which would diffuse the desperate-feeling tension between them now. However, Job grinned back at him, his face quasi-luminous white and pink in the moonlight. “Nope,” he laughed. “I got you! I only said I wouldn't want Roceta to be my first kiss; I actually kissed a girl from my house at a gala last year. So you and Roceta are both in second place!”

Siletti's mouth dropped open in disbelief. “Wait, what?” he said. “You didn't tell me about that!”

“You never asked about my first kiss, only who I'd want to kiss in general,” said Job. “And you know what else? When Roceta kissed you, you were pretty much a pulp. You didn't kiss her back. So… Technically, I'm your first kiss!”

Siletti's hands flew up cover his face. He groaned loudly. “I can't believe I fell for that,” he complained. “You tricked me!”

“I didn't trick you,” said Job. “I'm just amazing at strategy.”

“What do you want, a medal?”

“No,” replied Job. “But I'd kind of like another kiss.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story is one of a series of almost mundane moments I've written to supplement a longer campaign, mainly to work out how several PCs and GM PCs interact around that game's plot. Sorry if it doesn't make much sense! My goal isn't to write good Exalted fiction here, it's just to explore these characters.


End file.
